Jackson Urges Flag Protest

January 27, 2000|By James Hill, Tribune Staff Writer.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has led many attempts to do away with the Confederate flag in the South and the indignity it represents for African-Americans, is taking his latest fight to the nation's largest sporting stage, the Super Bowl in Atlanta.

Jackson said he will join a coalition of Georgia ministers, Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell and supporters of the movement to stop the flying of the Confederate flag on an informational picket line Sunday outside the Georgia Dome, which flies the Confederate banner. The facility is the site of Sunday's Super Bowl XXXIV between the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans.

Jackson said he has asked the NFL players union, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and members of the Rams and Titans to display the American flag somewhere on their uniforms or helmets to symbolize "One Flag, One America."

"In Atlanta, some time ago, they pulled down the Confederate flag on city properties [and] public schools," Jackson said during a teleconference Wednesday. "Many business owners stopped flying the flag because of the disrespect it represents. Yet the Georgia state legislature insists on flying the Confederate flag.

"That flag represents oppression, sedition, an attempt to overthrow the government and undermine the union. An American president had to declare war to save the union. To fly this flag in 2000 is an insult to all those who believe in One Flag, One America."

Jackson said the cooperation of the NFL and its players in this effort could go a long way toward ending the decades-old tradition of displaying the confederate flag.

"We're not trying to threaten anyone," Jackson said. "The NFL is not the issue, the State of Georgia is the issue. We want the NFL to be an ally." The league and the players union have yet to respond to Jackson's request.

"The flag represents more things that divide us than that bring us together," said Michael Langford, a spokesman for Campbell. "We think it is a reasonable request for the NFL to show solidarity."

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), whose district encompasses much of Atlanta, said he agrees with Jackson. "We need to move toward One Flag, One America," Lewis said from Washington. "The Georgia state flag, like the South Carolina state flag, represents a long-gone era. It's time for the Georgia legislators to have nothing but raw courage and lead the people in the state into a new period and a new time."